Friction
by Aniviel
Summary: A girl and her class take an intern trip over to Ireland...her fiance becomes abusive and she falls for another man...an enigmatic man. She sees something that she can never forget...something thats haunting her...Twists and Turns involved!
1. Default Chapter

~~~June 2003~~~ The steady chill of the endless wind blew my hair past my face as I squinted my eyes to look ahead at the rest of my class wandering around the damp and dreary streets of Ireland. It was a simple field trip across the world to be an intern for a couple elementary schools around the area that our new neighborhood is located. The schools that all of us will be interning at are archaic and have many historical references. Ireland seemed the perfect place for such a task, so my teacher Mr. Harris decided to take us all over there. The night was young, and very frigid. Many of the students were gripping onto their boyfriends, girlfriends, and friends in order to keep from freezing. My boyfriend Tyler gripped onto my hand firmly, as if not to let me go. We have been going out for a little over a year now, and I was totally ready to called it off. I wrapped my slightly warm jacket tighter around my body as I exhaled and watched a familiar cloud form in front of my lips. I glared at a street lamp as I watched light dew falling in the midst of its light.  
"What are you looking at?" Tyler asked me while frantically looking for another classmate or even worse, a guy.  
"The dew" I said back to him as I was reverting my eyes back to the beginning of the long line our class had sprawled out to become. We were on a journey back to the warm and extremely old neighborhood.  
"Hey, what do you say we take a pit stop over there" Tyler said as he pointed to an old alley way and squeezed my hand hard enough to make me say yes. He had a certain look in his eyes that meant trouble for me, pleasure for him. He then ran ahead of me and expected me to follow. I hesitated, looking around for someone to be our watch, or to make sure Tyler wasn't going to kill me in that alley way.  
"Tanya, hey, Tyler wants to go check something out over there, please wait for me" I said to my best friend who was sluggishly walking and trying to stay warm with her boyfriend David.  
"Oh, another one of his moments?" She asked, knowing of his abusive and manipulative behavior.  
"I hope not" I said back, and then gave her a quick hug as I winked at David and ran down the alleyway to find Tyler. It was a particularly dark area, a killer couldn't have picked a better spot.  
"Tyler?" I said aloud, hoping to find movement from this place. No response. "Hey, where did you go?" I finished while shuffling my feet through the puddles on the mossy brick walkway. A shadowy figure loomed up ahead and I squinted my eyes to try to see who it was. "This isn't funny Ty" I said quietly, now becoming more scared than before. The figure was in a mid step when it turned to face me. Its back was slightly arched and its legs were facing west while its body was facing south. I took a step towards it, and the figure didn't budge. The orange eyes are what struck me the most. The eyes were piercing and dangerous, almost as if it knew I was going to be there at that very moment, and it was meant to be there too. These were the kind of eyes that haunt you, and I know they would haunt me for a long time. It was wearing a semi-light brown raggedy cloak that I could somewhat see in the very dim light. I knew that Tyler wasn't wearing a cloak. "Is, is someone there?" I said shakily, and took another careful step towards the figure. I could see it breathing harder now as its back was rising up and down in the light. A nearby ally cat jumped out of a garbage can and scared me half to death. It slithered through my legs with a simple hiss and stumbled out onto the street about 20 feet behind me. The figure ahead still didn't budge at all.  
"Look, if this is a joke it's definitely not funny Ty" I somehow whispered loudly through my quivering lips. I took a few quick steps toward the figure and kicked some metal object in my way. This made a loud commotion and I saw the figure jump to the side and run down the alleyway as if I were chasing it. It looked like a demonic animal as it hissed and growled all the way out. I fell to my knees in disbelief and landed in one of the dirty, scum filled puddles. I stayed there for a good few minutes until a familiar and pleasant voice filled the dark ally and took over my body in a fantastic and relieving way.  
"Yo girl! What in the world is wrong with you? Just sitting all up in a dark ally way across the world like ya own the place? Uh uh, I don't think so. Look at you, just chizillin up in that puddle like it's a damn bath tub. Get yoself out of there before you get gang banged girl! Bring yoself out here!" David echoed off of the moss covered building walls that surrounded me. A smile spread across my lips like warm icing on a cake. I stood up and turned to him, walking myself out of the mysterious ally way. The eyes of the figure wouldn't leave my mind, and I wondered if I had dreamt it all up somehow.  
"What the hell are you thinking Candace? I told you to come with me, not wander around like a fricken screw up! You're lucky I came back here and told everyone to find you, you would have probably stayed there all night." Tyler went on and started cursing at me as he was angrily treading in my direction. A sudden moment of fear spread itself through my body as I quickly contemplated what he would do with people watching, and then I realized he didn't care if people were there.  
"I, I'm so sorry Tyler. I was looking for you, and, and." I looked up at him with fear and intense anxiety painted in my forming tears. Tyler wrapped his arms around me and squeezed me a little too tight for comfort, all the while he continued his curses and threats in my ear.  
"Lets go, now" He finished as he gripped onto my upper arm and dragged me away from the ally and onto the dew filled streets. His grip was increasingly tight and I lightly whimpered as he pulled me through all of my classmates and friends to the front of the group.  
"Tyler you're hurting me" I whined as he gripped tighter at my pain.  
"You deserve it, you scared me to death Candace" He responded as my hand grew slightly numb and his fingers dug into my flesh.  
"Tyler please" I whimpered as I tried to pull myself away from him. He was too strong for me, as I've realized from past experiences. I tried digging my feet into the ground but the old bricks just shuffled a little and then my foot grip was demolished.  
"Why are you trying to fight me, you know it's only going to get you in more trouble" Tyler said into my ear threateningly and I realized I might as well appease him. I started walking at his pace, but this made him grow upset and he began to walk faster than he already was. I realized that he liked it when I tried to stop him, he liked the challenge. He seemed utterly sadistic at this point.  
After what seemed like an eternity, the gates to the archaic neighborhood were standing at the end of the street, where there was a turnabout. This neighborhood was probably built in the early 1600's, if not earlier. It was a beautiful sight to see, if you were into that weird stuff. I thought of it historically, there were rumors of its being haunted. I turned my head and upper torso around to find Tanya and David. They were of course, right behind me watching Tyler's every move.  
"There it is" I said to them with a smile on my face. Tanya popped in a piece of gum and I opened my mouth for her to put one in for me too. She smiled back at me after she finished and then David copied my lead. I giggled a little and then felt Tyler's grip firming around my arm. I winced slightly and looked at him hard.  
"You just wait until we get to our house" He said to me through his teeth.  
"I can't wait" I said back to him.  
~~~~~~~~~~ 


	2. Another Day

After about thirty minutes, we were free to go to our respected houses. Before we were allowed to do so, the teacher had to issue room partners and rules, as well as keys and times. A wakeup call would be received at seven o'clock sharp in everyone's home, there were 4 people per 2 bedroom house. Of course, Tanya and I were paired up to share a room and David and Tyler had to share the other bedroom. I grabbed the key and ran over to our small, cottage looking home. I stumbled around to unlock the ancient door. The house was different, the main room was a sitting room of course, typical for the time period this house was erected in. The sitting room had merely a small bookshelf and a sitting chair. The next room in was the kitchen, it was set off a little from the main hallway area and the old bricks on the floor had changed color, they had turned brown and dirty looking over the many years. The rooms were equipped with two single beds and an archaic nightstand between them with an old porcelain lamp sitting on it. There was a phone, but it was one of those round dial phones that you had to use your fingers and go around the entire circle if the number you were dialing had a 9 in it. The bathroom had a new shower and tub, but that was basically the only thing from this century in the entire room. The two bedrooms had to share this bathroom, 4 people to one bathroom. I glanced out of the oversized front door, when I had opened it before I noticed it was creaky and one of the hinges was coming off. This door was made from old cypress I presumed, or something native to the surrounding area. Nonetheless, the door was lined with old steel that used to be a high- class design letting everyone know that this family had a well paying job for the time era. Tyler's face flashed across the bedroom, my bedroom, and I thought I had hallucinated. Tanya opened the door and ran outside to find David who was carrying his and Tanya's bags both. No sooner had she left, Tyler walked out of my bedroom and into the sitting room where I was standing. He reached over to the door and I smiled faintly as he turned the safety bolt to lock the door.  
"I'm sorry I yelled at you earlier" He said sincerely to me. I knew he only wanted to have his way with me, and quite frankly I didn't like it at all.  
"Oh, its ok I guess" I said to him and shuffled around as not to put myself in a position I didn't want to be in by anything he could have me lay upon. "Pretty nifty rooms huh?" I said to him  
"I haven't been to my room yet. I put your bags in your room, mine are still over there" He said as he walked over to me and put his arms around my waist. He leaned in to kiss me but I turned my head and he wound up kissing my cheek.  
"Hey look at that!" I said while pointing to the phone I had already noticed before, just to remove myself from that situation.  
"Stop it" He said as he picked me up, carried me to my bedroom, and tossed me on the bed.  
"Tyler, I really."  
"Shut up! You've been mouthing off all day." He said to me while dragging the comforter around the two of us. I was stuck underneath him as he tried to seduce me. I felt tears forming in my eyes as this familiar scene unfolded before them. ".just relax" He swayed while trying to get me to loosen up around him. He kissed my lips and repeated "relax" over and over again. How could I relax when I felt that I was getting raped by my own boyfriend? A familiar pain wrung itself through my body as Tyler's and my hips met. A tear trickled down my face as I repeatedly told myself "this will only take a minute". I knew that Tyler wasn't going to back off, even if I told him to.  
"Open up! Tyler! Leave her alone you fricken cockass!" I heard Tanya yelling through the door all the while she was banging on it. This commotion made Tyler more excited as he moved harder and harder until I was whining and crying in pain. He took my pain and whining as a sign that I liked what he was doing.  
"Tyler." I said while he put his hand over my mouth to shut me up. Tanya's angry knocks were ringing in my ears as my body was shaking. "Tyler!.I cant breathe" I muffled the sound through his fingers where he then let my nose be free. I know he could feel my tears forming around his hand, but he obviously didn't care. Finally after what seemed to be an eternity, he slowed his pace down until he was lying still on top of me. I quietly cried as he rolled over and kissed me on the lips once again.  
"I love you" He said softly to me while wiping a tear from my cheek. I kept my eyes fixed on the ceiling while I continued to cry softly. "What did you say?"  
"Nothing" I said in between muffled gasps  
"That's what I thought. I'm so good to you and you can't even tell me that you love me. I know you do, why don't you just say it! I've heard you say it before! Now say it!" He screamed at me while I felt his body jerk angrily at certain stresses in his sentence. Tanya's wild knocking had ceased, but I knew she was sitting right outside of the door waiting for Tyler to come out. If I got up to open the door, I would get a black eye. It's that simple to him. It's been done before, so I don't even bother trying. Tyler kissed me yet again and placed his feet on the ancient rug by the bed. He walked out of the room and down the narrow hallway. I heard the shower turn on as he peeked his head around the corner.  
"You're so ungrateful. I can get anyone I want, but I choose you. You can't even say that you love me. I can say it a hundred times.I love you. I love you. I love you." He continued on and on. Finally I couldn't take it anymore and through my tears I managed to give him.  
"I l,love you too"  
"Baby I cant wait until you're 18 and we can get married." He said joyously aloud. I started to cry harder at the thought of being with him for the rest of my life.  
Tyler was an incredibly good-looking guy. He was gorgeous to say the least. He was a model for a couple magazines and was an extra in a few famous movies. He had blonde hair and blue eyes, tan skin, and a built body. He stood about 5'11 and was the perfect height in my opinion. He likes to spike his short hair, well, he likes it best when I spike it for him. It wasn't like I was with someone hideous who treated me wrong, but his behavior was unacceptable. How could I tell him how I really feel? He would probably kill me. That was my biggest fear. I rolled over and cried harder as the filth menaced my body. I glared at the wall ahead of me for a few minutes before my eyes began to roll back and forth as I tried to shake sleep away. Just then I saw and heard something at the same time.  
"Candace!" I heard Tyler yell from the shower as those haunting eyes flashed on the wall. I jolted up onto an elbow and stared continually at the wall. I know I saw them. I know that was real. "Candace! Come here!" Tyler finished as I heard the water stop. I got out of the bed all the while my eyes were peeled on the wall area. I saw Tyler fly around the corner in a towel and his body was glistening with water.  
  
"You're hot" He said to me with my hair all disheveled and my face red from crying.  
"Don't lie to me Ty" I said back to him. He flashed me a gorgeous smile and blew a little kiss in my direction. He jumped back around the corner with my toothbrush in his mouth as he walked towards me. He put his arms around my waist yet again, and his appearance at that moment made me fall into him.  
"Two months" He said into my ear as he gently kissed my neck. "Two months until we can get married and have a family"  
"Hmm" I hummed quietly as my eyes reverted back towards the wall to look for those eyes, those orange, mysterious eyes.  
"Open the fricken door before I go through it boy!" Tanya started to scream through the locked door.  
"Can I open it now?" I asked Tyler who stared at my back in the mirror behind me.  
"No, just a few more minutes" He said to me. "You know what happens, and plus, I'm naked underneath this towel and I wouldn't want Tanya to fall for me"  
"I don't think that will be a problem Ty" I finished while trying to make light out of this situation.  
"Shut up" He said as he pushed me away from him and went back into the bathroom to do who knows what. A good 4 minutes passed until he came back out, fully dressed and hair all messy. He was beautiful.  
"I'm going to sleep in my "appointed" room now I guess, I'll come and wake you up ok?" He said to me while kissing me on the forehead.  
"Sure thing, goodnight" I gently responded as I pulled his face away from mine and held it between my hands.  
"I love you Candy" Tyler said to me without a smile on his face. I began to wonder if he really was in love with me.  
"Mwah" I said while blowing him a kiss, and then turned my back to him and plopped back down in the bed. Tyler was still standing where I left him, and he stayed there for about 30 seconds until he smiled sincerely and walked away. Tanya and Tyler pushed each other as they both tried to fit through the door at once. Some words were said, but I could barely hear.  
"Did he hurt you, what did that scumbag do?" Tanya said while jumping next to me in my bed.  
"Naw, just the usual I guess"  
"I heard you screaming"  
"I wasn't screaming." I said to her, "I'm tired though, so I'm gonna go to sleep ok?"  
"Ok, we'll have a wake up call at seven." She finished and galloped off into the bathroom. I stared through the doorway , into the hallway and saw Tylers face flash by. I jerked up a little bit and saw it again.  
"What in the world?" I whispered to myself, wondering if it was having a nightmare. It flashed by a few more times until I got up and walked over to the door.  
"Tyler?" I said while peeking my head outside of the door.  
"Boo!" Tyler yelled as he jumped out of the room next to me. I jumped back and hit my head on the door panel. "Scared you didn't I?"  
"Tyler! Ouch you made me hurt myself" I whined so I could get his attention.  
"Aww, just a flesh wound baby" He stated while kissing the top of my head. "I just wanted to tell you that I miss you, and I love you"  
"Tyler, you just left like, 2 minutes ago"  
"I love you" He said again  
"Ok but you really should get some rest" I said while placing my pointer finger over his lips. He smiled behind my finger and took my whole palm in his hand. He kissed the inside of my palm and then rubbed it on the side of his face. His face was rough as he didn't shave since this morning. I used to like to play with his scruff, but now it was almost a chore to touch him at all.  
"I'll see you in a couple hours honey" He said and then kissed my forehead and dashed into the room he came out of. I shook my head with a light smile on my face as I thought of his weird behavior. Those orange eyes flashed through my mind yet again, so I walked over the front door and put both locks on. I laid in my bed and soon I fell asleep. 


	3. But always new

~~~~~~~~~~  
The wakeup call was right on time, but Tyler was an hour early. At six o'clock he was jumping on my bed.  
"How come you didn't wake up the first time I jumped?" He said angrily as he got in my face.  
"Tyler, I honestly thought I was having a nightmare." I responded while squinting my eyes to get used to the light pouring in from the hallway.  
"I couldn't sleep last night baby, I wanted to see you so badly"  
"You need not to do that anymore" I said with my eyebrows slanting inward at his weird comment.  
"Ready to take a shower?" He said to me as he perked up and ripped the blankets off of me. He walked over to the bathroom as I let out a yawn. I saw Tanya shuffle around in her bed and check out the time on the clock.  
"Tyler, get the hell out of here." I heard her mumble as she pulled the covers over her head.  
"Shut the hell up" Tyler yelled from the bathroom as he purposely began to put on all of the lights in the room.  
"Tyler, that's rude" I said to him as he looked angrily at me from where he was standing.  
"Don't start" He said threateningly to me as I crossed my arms across my body and plopped down onto the bed. Tyler playfully leaped over to the bed and began to kiss my neck.  
"No, stop it" I said to him. He scooped me up in his arms and carried me into the bathroom where he slammed the door shut and put me down.  
"I love you" He stated clearly as he began to undress.  
"Tyler, I'm not in the mood. Let me take my own shower today" I said to him as I rubbed the sleep out of my eyes  
"No" He responded as he began to take a leak in the toilet next to me.  
"Ugh that's disgusting" I said as I looked away towards the door.  
"It's nothing you haven't seen before honey"  
"Yeah but I don't usually see it with piss flying out of it" I said with a hint of an attitude. Tyler laughed a little bit and then started to stare at me. "What?" I asked him  
"You're beautiful" He said as he took of his remaining clothes and stepped into the hot shower. "Come in, the water's nice"  
"No, I'm going to go back to bed. Wake me up at seven" I said and then left the bathroom and went back into the darkness.  
~~~~~~~~~~  
"Candace, you will be interning at Brookeville Elementary. Since your school is the farthest, I booked you to have a rent-a-car. Here's the slip and keys. Take a cab to pick it up. Also, this packet will tell you everything you need to know." Mr. Harris said to me while handing me a folder full of papers.  
"Is anyone else working at this school with me?" I asked  
"Uhh, Laura is, but she's in a different section. You guys can carpool" He finished as I glanced over at Laura who waved at me and smiled politely. I flashed her a smile of my own, and shoved the car keys into my pocket. I didn't really know Laura too well, and I could tell she didn't want to know me. Tyler glanced around nervously as his own packet was handed to him. He flashed me an uneasy look, I knew this would be the first time a forever that he would have to be away from me for more than 8 hours. I turned to Laura and motioned for her to come along to we could get the car.  
"Candace wait" I heard Tyler yell from behind me. "I'm not letting you get into a cab with a weird guy that we don't know."  
"Tyler, I'll be fine. I'm coming right back"  
"No!" He said as he grabbed my arm and pulled me to the street side curb. Laura cautiously followed us to the side of the road. I glanced back and saw everyone staring at us quietly with weird looks on their faces. Tanya flashed me a look of distress and sympathy as David pretending to be punching Tyler in the face. Laura stepped in the way of my view of them and flashed me an uneasy smile of her own this time, and I tried to be encouraging and smiled happily.  
"Don't you mouth off to me ever again do you hear me?" Tyler silently screamed into my ear as his grip tightened yet again.  
"Obviously I can hear you now, but if you keep screaming at me like that, soon I wont be able to" I simply stated while looking in his blue eyes. He had wonderful eyes, but right now they were too angry to stare at. Finally a cab stopped by us and Tyler pushed me in first, placing himself between Laura and I.  
"Uh, go to South Site Road or wherever.to the car rental place please" I said to the woman cab driver as I glanced at Tyler. He knew what I was thinking: Overprotective freak.  
"I just don't want anything to ever happen to you." Tyler said while trying to make up for the humungous outrage he had with the group. "You know what would happen to me if some weird guy drove away with you and never came back. I would kill myself."  
"Tyler don't talk like that. That's childish."  
"It's true, and you know it."  
A moment of silence spread through the car like an epidemic in the rainforest. Everyone felt nervous, but none of us knew why. After an eternity had passed, we finally arrived at the car rental lot.  
"That will be $5.75" The cab lady said with her Irish accent. I smiled at Tyler as he looked at me for a few minutes.  
"You going to pay the lady or what?" He finally said to me. I laughed a little and then realized he was serious.  
"How come you're not paying?" I asked him. Tyler laughed at my response and shook his head.  
"I don't have any money"  
"Neither do I" I said while pulling out a couple quarters that evened out to be $1.75. I handed it to the driver and she flashed me a smile  
"It's alright. Pay me back another time" She said and I thanked her a couple times before we all piled out of the cab. The car rental site was filled the some of the best American cars, Japanese cars, English cars and many more. This place was an exotic car rental place! I love cars, and started blabbing about some car that I saw. Tyler and Laura left me standing in the car yard as they headed up towards the main building to pick up our car.  
"Hey guys, you need the key" I said while holding it up. "I think our car is one of the crap ones". I tossed the keys towards Tyler and he caught them, of course. I walked over to a Pagani Zonda and stared in disbelief. "I cannot believe I'm standing next to a Freaking Pagani! Holy cow." I mumbled on and on. A salesman accompanied Laura and Tyler out of the building with a selling smile on his face. His blonde hair and green eyes were hard to miss, it was the color of the people in the area. Everyone stared at Tyler though, he was amazing. His black shirt fit him perfectly and his khaki pants looked sharp on him. Tyler had an awesome sense of style, and I called him my arm candy. That's where our little nicknames came from. I then remembered about his abusive side and the good thoughts vanished.  
"Hey babe, come over here" Tyler said to me from across the car yard. I jogged over to where they were and the salesman greeted me also.  
"Your car is one of our nicest. Mr. Harris and our company have been affiliated for years now and he got you an amazing deal. Just promise me you wont tell anyone about this deal and whatever else you find out about ok?"  
"Sure thing" I said, anxious to spot our car.  
"Well, just follow me and I'll put you behind the wheel!" The salesman finished as he walked around the back of the building to an even larger car lot. "Yours is in the garage, we don't like any water or anything to get on it. It was washed and waxed yesterday evening and it looks brilliant. I'm sure you'll love driving it too. Are you a car fan?"  
"Actually yes I am. I was in my glory looking at the cars you have out front" I stated back to the salesman, growing more anxious by the second to find out what car I was driving.  
"Awesome, you'll love this car then. She's a beauty!" He stated as he clicked on the garage door opener. I nervously gripped onto Tyler's hand as the garage revealed a McLaren F1. My eyes widened as I gasped in disbelief  
"That's the car I'll be driving? A McLaren F1?" I said surprised while a big smile spread across my lips and started to stumble towards the car.  
"Actually, you're driving the car parked behind that" The salesman said with a sly smile. I walked over to the breathtakingly shiny black McLaren and glanced at my reflection in the paint job. My smile faded as I looked up to see a two door Acura Integra parked behind the McLaren.  
"That's the car that you say is amazing?"  
"Why yes, it's equipped with the finest of everything. A DVD player with surround sound and 6 screens, entirely new racing engine and a set of one of the most expensive rim styles there is, much much more, you'll see." He finished with a wide smile on his weathered face.  
"It's great" I said aloud trying to hold back the non-existing excitement within. I then unlocked the car and heard a familiar warning alarm go off. The eurolight headlights flashed twice as the doors unlocked at the push of my button. I sat down in the drivers and seat and proceeded to start the car as Tyler and Laura took their seats inside of the car. I waved at the salesman as I reversed out of the garage and onto a paved road.  
"How does it drive?" Laura asked me as I heard her fiddling around with some buttons trying to figure out how to turn on the DVD player. She had a personal screen in the passenger seats headrest, as she was sitting in the backseat.  
"It drives different. The gas pedal is extremely sensitive and the wheel, well, you barely have to turn it" I responded as I clicked one button and all of the TV screens turned on and glowed a familiar blue.  
"Isn't this what you have in your car Candy?" Tyler asked as he swindled around with the stock of DVD movies in the dashboard.  
"Well, mines not 'top-of-the-line' like this, but its pretty close"  
"Oh, I'm driving everywhere from here on out" He responded  
"I don't think so Ty. I was handed the keys, you weren't" I said defensively. If there was one thing you could never take away from me, that's my driving privilege. I love to drive. After about 30 minutes, I had already dropped Tyler off at his appointed school and was halfway across the countryside to the school Laura and I were working at. She was now sitting in the front seat next to me with a map sprawled out on the dashboard.  
"I uh, I think you had to turn back there" She stated as I sped by the dirt road I was evidently supposed to turn onto.  
"Shit" I said as I flicked on my turn signal and began to make a three point turn on this little two way road in the middle of nowhere. After I had gotten my car turned around, Laura turned the map upside down and pointed to something.  
"Wait, maybe it was the next turn coming up" She said with a confused look on her face. This went on for a couple of hours until we decided to pull over at a farm house and ask a kind, old woman for directions. She told us where to go and in about fifteen minutes we had arrived at our destination. 


	4. Its like a vision of love

"Well, this is it" I said aloud as I stared at an archaic yet beautiful primary school.  
"It took us long enough" Laura responded as she clicked a bunch of buttons and set the inside car alarm off. "Oops" she muttered as she continued to press more and more buttons.  
"Come on" I said as I opened the car door and stepped onto the gravel of the parking lot at the primary school we would be working at.  
Laura and I were greeted by a short and slightly chubby man who introduced himself as the school's principle.  
"Nice to meet you" I said with a simple smile. Laura nodded her head, she seemed extremely shy. He motioned for us to follow him as Laura stepped behind me, leaving me in the front. We walked around the school for about thirty minutes and then brought us to the main office.  
"Candace, you will be working as a second-hand helper with the second graders in room 342. Laura, you will be working as office help, so Candace, it's the second door from the end on your left. Laura, follow me." I thanked the principle and starting slowly walking towards the door that read 342. When I finally reached the room, I peered in and saw a bunch of children quietly sitting with their hands folded in their laps, ready to listen.  
"What in the world?" I whispered to myself as I tried to find another teacher in there who was making them sit like this. I didn't see anyone else, so I cautiously opened the door with a smile, and watched as the gaze of all of the children turn towards my direction.  
"Good morning" I heard an adorable little strawberry blonde haired girl say aloud to me, "My name is Shannon."  
"Well Good morning Shannon, and everyone else." I said as I paced to the back of the large classroom where the teachers desk was located. The children followed me with their heads as I did so.  
"Hello" I heard a deep, masculine voice say to me. Startled, I jumped a little, grabbed my heart, and let out a giggle.  
"Holy cow you scared me. My name is Candace." I said as I held out my hand to shake his. I wasn't able to really see his face as he was standing in the shadows, but he sounded about my age. He took a step out of the shadows and grabbed my hand and shook it. He had dark brown, almost black spiky hair with big brown eyes. He was extremely good looking, with a body slightly better than Tylers.  
"My name is Nathan" He said to me with a smile that could melt anyone. I raised my eyebrows as I studied him for a moment, then flashed my own smile at him and let go of his hand. "I was just preparing a snack for them when it's snack time. I told them to sit there for a minute, they seem pretty well behaved huh?"  
"Yeah, they seem extremely well trained." I said as I finished putting my bag in one of the drawers in the teachers desk. "Are we the only ones?"  
"No, there's someone that comes on Tuesday's and Thursday's. Those are our days off." He said to me as he turned his back and continued putting pretzels in a ziploc baggie for the kids. I realized that they were still staring at us with their little hands neatly folded in their laps still.  
"Do you guys want to play eye spy?" I asked them while pretending to be excited so that they could feel energetic also.  
"How do you play that?" The same little strawberry blonde girl asked me.  
"Well, someone chooses an object in the room, and says 'I spy with my little eye, something that is.' and you say the color of your object. Then everyone else has to guess what object you're thinking of." I explained enthusiastically to them. They all stared at me with blank looks on their faces.  
"Well, who is the person who shall be choosing the object?" The girl asked me.  
"Why don't you start it out, and whoever guesses it right first does the next round" I stated and then turned back towards Nathan who still had his back turned and was working quickly on preparing the snack for the children. I could hear the playful whispers of the kids who were participating in the newly learned "Eye Spy" game.  
"Hey Candace," Nathan said with his back still turned. I perked up and looked in his direction, "do you think you could help me write everyone's name on the baggies?"  
"Sure thing buddy" I said and walked over to the cabinets where he was standing. He held out a marker for me to use and I reached out to take it. He held onto it for a moment, and then looked me in the eyes and smiled. I smiled back, knowing he was flirting with me. I was the first one to look away though as I shook my head and let out a tiny chuckle. The children continued to quietly play their little game for about 5 minutes, and then all was silent.  
"Hey guys what happened?" I asked the kids as I turned around to face them.  
"He called me stupid" This little brown haired, blue-eyed cutie said to me. He pointed to another kid who was sitting a few chairs down from him, and then started to become teary-eyed.  
"Well, tell him that's not very nice and if he ever wants to have friends, that's not the way to go about it" I responded as best as I could. I wasn't very used to being around kids, but I loved them anyway. The little boy looked at the other one and sucked up his own tears.  
"That's not very, very nice to do if you want a best friend in the whole world" He tried to repeat what I had said. This action of humbleness hit me right in the heart and my eyes melted as I watched it. The other little boy didn't say a word, but I wasn't going to force him to. Suddenly the phone in the corner of the room rang loudly, breaking the heart-warming moment.  
"Who in the world?" I said as I walked over to the ringing phone. Nathan peered over his shoulder and I could feel his eyes studying my body as I gracefully picked up the phone and said "hello?"  
"Candace? I've been thinking about you all morning" I heard Tyler say to me  
"Tyler, you're at work, and I'm at work.why are you calling me? Did something happen?"  
"No, I just wanted to hear your voice" He responded, "Does there have to be an emergency in order to talk to my fiancé?"  
"Tyler, you could get me fired. I'll talk to you later ok?" I said to him in a whisper. Everyone's attention was focused on me, and Nathan could feel my uneasiness.  
"Hey kids, who's next to go for Eye Spy?" Nathan said aloud as he placed the baggies into a big box and rested it on the floor. He winked at me as he walked by and kicked my shoe lightly. I smiled back at him and bit my lower lip in a playful manner, then realized I was still on the phone with my future husband.  
"Candace? Did you hear me?" Tyler said in a worried tone of voice  
"No, I'm sorry babe. What did you say?" I asked him with a straight face  
"I said that I'm going to come up there for lunch, so I can see you."  
"Ha, no you're not Tyler. Please, do not do that." I said to him  
"Candace, don't argue with me. I love you"  
"Tyler, I'll be with you all night. I'm working, so I have to go. Bye" I said as I was preparing to hang the phone up.  
"I love you" He repeated, waiting for my response  
"I love you too" I lied to him through my teeth. "Bye" I finished and then hung the phone back onto its receiver in the corner of the room. I glanced up and saw Nathan staring at me. I smiled at him as he walked over to where I was.  
"Boyfriend?" He asked uneasily  
"Unfortunately" I responded  
"You don't like him?"  
"I would, but there's some thing.never mind. I like him." I said while trying to hold back my true feelings. Nathan was extremely attractive, and I questioned my future with Tyler very extensively at this point.  
"Do you want to talk about it at lunch?" He asked me reassured  
"We'll see" I responded and then walked over to the box and brought it to the front of the room and watched as all of the children grew quiet yet again. "Who's ready for snack?" I asked excitedly, but only a few of the kids grew excited. I handed out all of the baggies and occasionally met eyes with Nathan as he studied my every move. He was gorgeous.  
~~~~~~~~~~ 


	5. That seems to be true

Tyler's embrace was amazingly comfortable but all I could think of was Nathan. He was the new guy on my mind, and it was almost wrong of me to pretend that mine and Tyler's relationship was going to work. I wanted Nathan now.  
"Tyler?" I said to him while leading him, for the first time, over to the bed. I made him sit next to me without groping all over me and trying to do things I wasn't in the mood for. "Do you really think that this is going to work out between us? I mean.I'm going to be totally honest with you. I'm having doubts about, us." I stated cautiously, awaiting a blow from the back of Tyler's hand across my cheek. He looked down at his feet and then met eyes with mine.  
"I was thinking about that today, when I was away from you. It felt so odd to not have you near me, so I made a vow to myself about you. I promise to try harder to let you have some space, and to not hurt you because God knows I never want to see you in pain. I hit you sometimes, and it really hurts me. I know it may not seem like it, but I promised myself today that I wouldn't hit you at all, ever again. I love you Candace, I'm willing to change for you. I need you." He said seriously, swallowing his pride while picking my hand up and placing it in his. "I also won't do anything sexual to you anymore unless you want to. I'm not making the first move at all. I want to have an honest relationship with you."  
"Tyler? Are you feeling ok? I mean.I never knew you could actually be serious, and have nice thoughts like that." I responded in awe  
"I really want you to be happy, and be happy with me. So mold me into whatever you want."  
"Well, for starters.My partner at the primary school is a guy. His name is Nathan, and I have to say he's attractive. He's going to come over tonight and help me make some snacks for the kids. They seemed to really enjoy that today. Would you have a problem with this?" I asked him, knowing I was treading on extremely thin ice.  
"No, as long as I'm in here with you guys. I can give you space, and I promise I will.but it might take some time. Would you have a problem with me sitting in here also?" He asked sincerely  
"Of course not. I wanted you to stay with me" I said, now aware of the growing feelings inside of me. I leaned over and kissed him. He hesitantly gave into me, as if it were his first kiss ever. I pressed for more than just a kiss by wrapping one hand around his neck and the other hang on his upper thigh. I started to push him backwards onto the bed and he pulled away from me.  
"No Candace.I don't feel right." He said while he got up and walked into the bathroom, leaving me lying on my stomach on the bed. I smiled and shook my head approvingly of his new change. I heard the shower come on as Tyler was in the bathroom. After about three minutes I heard a knock at the hotel room door, and jumped up thinking it was Nathan.  
"Hey girl!" Tanya said to me while David wrapped his arms around her waste and kissed her neck, leaving a familiar mark. I smiled and pressed my lips together. "Uh, we're going to go hit the nearest movie theatre. Do you want to come with us?" She asked as David's hand moved upwards from her stomach. She grabbed his hands and squeezed them disapprovingly. He backed off and stepped inside my hotel room.  
"Uh, I'm going to have to take a rain check on that one. I have some stuff I need to do for the kids tonight." I said to her and turned to watch David grab some panties out of Tanya's suitcase.  
"I've never seen these ones before" He stated as he held them up in the air.  
"Boy, and you never will if you don't put those damn things back where you got them." She responded playfully with a half serious smile.  
"You guys go and have fun" I said in a mid laugh, and she gave me a hug and gave my hand a little squeeze.  
"Hey, I might be staying in his room tonight, but I'll come check in with you when I get back." She said and then David sped past me, out of the door, and then latched onto Tanya yet again.  
"Mwah" I did my trademark "kiss-in-the-air" thing. As soon as they left, I closed the door and walked over to the television. The second I sat down, I heard another knock at the door. Hoping it was Nathan, I ran over to it and peered out of the window next to the door. Nathan winked at me from outside, and I flung the door open to let him in.  
"Were those your friends that just left?" He asked me, trying to start a conversation.  
"Yeah, David and Tanya" I replied while motioning for him to follow me to one of the beds. We chose to do our little crafts on Tanya's bed. "Would you mind if my boyfriend stayed in the room with us while we did this? He won't bother us; he'll probably read or watch T.V."  
"Oh no, of course I don't mind." He said while emptying his supplies onto the bed. I grabbed some baggies and a sharpie marker. I reached up for the list of names, and realized that Nathan was holding it in his hand. He playfully held it high in the air so I couldn't reach it, thus making me jump up and down trying to get this sheet of paper. He was smiling, I was smiling.Tyler was not.  
"Candace? What the hell are you doing?" Tyler said while standing in the bathroom doorway wearing nothing but a towel around his waist.  
"Trying to get this paper", I said while Nathan handed it to me and I held it up for Tyler to see.  
"Oh" He said and while checking Nathan out, and then turned his back and walked into the bathroom yet again.  
"So that's your boyfriend?" Nathan asked, his smile no longer remaining on his face.  
"Yup, that's my baby" I said with my own smile still lingering on my lips. "Do you mind if I put some music on? I snuck a radio on the plane with me"  
"Sure, what do you have?" He responded  
"Only Christian music at this point. You don't mind do you?" I asked unsurely, knowing that many people disapprove of Christians and their music.  
"Absolutely not, I don't mind at all. Do you have Passion? I would like to hear the song Madly if you have it" He responded. I smiled at his request and quickly scurried over to my stash of CD's and popped in Passion. Nathan and I were singing away, and I was half dancing in my seat when Tyler stepped out of the bathroom area.  
"You're actually listening to that stuff with her?" He asked Nathan, I could tell Tyler was uneasy with my being around him. I was happy that he was even trying to start a conversation with Nathan, knowing of his unsocial and jealous side.  
"I love this song" Nathan responded with a handsome smile. Tyler nodded his head up and down and smiled back.  
"This is one of her favorite songs" He responded, letting Nathan know for sure, that I belonged to him.  
"Yes it is, but I'm not enjoying it because you guys keep talking." I said playfully and tossed a pillow at Tyler's head. He smiled and blew me a kiss, but instead of catching it, I jumped off of my bed and over to his, and laid a real kiss on him.  
"I love you" He said to me and smacked my butt as I turned around to prance back to the bed Nathan was sitting on. Nathan's smiled faded as he watched our little actions, and when I smiled at him, he smiled a fake smile back. I could tell he was jealous, and that's how I wanted it.  
~~~~~~~~~~ 


	6. Another night

The sun seemed to be afraid to show itself at all here in Ireland. It was almost as if something evil was covering the suns beautiful rays, something so evil that blocked anything good from appearing. People here seemed so unhappy, depressed, lost. The lack of sunshine and constant humidity was starting to eat at me, and it was only 3 days into this 3 month long "vacation".  
"Candace, you ok?" Nathan asked as he caught me peering outside of the classroom window and into the endless, lush, green fields of Ireland.  
"Yeah, yeah I'm fine." I said solemnly through my breath. Nathan remained staring intently at me as I wrapped my hand around the back of my neck and gave a fake smile to him before looking at the floor. He knew something was on my mind, something. As I looked back up at him, the orange eyes flashed in my mind and I got an instant migraine. The pain wasn't so much by my temples, but rather in the center of my forehead, right between my eyes.  
"Candace, why don't you sit down" He said softly to me as he took my hand and led me to the teachers desk. He helped me sit down because suddenly all I saw was darkness, except for the vision of the orange eyes right in front of me. I held my eyes shut tight and I heard one of the kids mumble something about me. Nathan bent down and continued holding onto my hand, gave it a tight squeeze, and placed one hand under my chin and lifted my face to look at him. "Hey, hey its ok. Take some Advil" He said soothingly as he jumped up and got a glass of water along with 2 Advil pills. The image of the eyes vanished, but my headache didn't.  
"It was weird, all of a sudden I couldn't see anything and my head started hurting really bad. I thought I was going to throw up" I said aloud to Nathan.  
"Shh, I get those sometimes too." He said while handing me the glass and two pills. "All you can do is take something for it" he finished while I snapped my head back and swallowed the pills. I downed the glass of water and got up to throw it away. Nathan pushed me back down and took the glass from my hand, bringing it over to the sink area and rinsing it out for me.  
"Thank you" I said to him as I peered back at the floor.  
"What do say we leave early and hit the beach? Ever been there?"  
"Nope, but I don't know. The kids."  
"The sub should be here in 15 minutes. We can go then"  
"Alright"  
"I have something I want to show you." Nathan said with a mysteriously evil smile. Thunder crackled overhead and one of the kids gasped and started to cry. 


End file.
